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Pretty Little Liars (2022 TV series)

Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin is an American slasher mystery drama television series created by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Lindsay Calhoon Bring for HBO Max, part of the Pretty Little Liars franchise based on Sara Shepard's young adult book series. It premiered on July 28, 2022, and ran for two seasons, the second retitled Pretty Little Liars: Summer School, before Max canceled it in September 2024.1 • 2 • 3

Key factDetail
PremiereJuly 28, 2022, exclusively on HBO Max1
CreatorsRoberto Aguirre-Sacasa (Riverdale, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) and Lindsay Calhoon Bring2 • 4
SettingMillwood, Pennsylvania, a working-class town; tragic events in 1999 haunt the present2
Main castBailee Madison, Chandler Kinney, Maia Reficco, Zaria, and Malia Pyles as the new Liars2
Seasons10 episodes (2022) plus 8 episodes as Summer School (2024); 18 total5
CancellationMax declined a third season, announced September 20243
Critical receptionSeason 1 scored 90% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer (20 reviews) and 70% on the audience Popcornmeter6

Spoilers

Premise

The plot opens in 1999, when a string of tragedies nearly destroyed a tightly bonded group of friends as well as their small working-class Pennsylvania town of Millwood. Twenty years later, a group of Millwood High students is hunted by an assailant known only as "A," who threatens to make them pay for their parents' past transgressions as well as sins of their own.2 The core mystery revolves around Angela Waters, a teenager in the year 2000, when the mothers of the five leading girls were themselves a tight-knit clique.7

Unlike the original series, in which the girls were already friends with a shared history, the new Liars start as disparate classmates who are thrown together by the threat.8

Seasons

Season 1 (2022). The ten-episode first season premiered July 28, 2022, on HBO Max.1 • 5 It stars Bailee Madison as Imogen Adams, Chandler Kinney as Tabby, Maia Reficco as Noa, Zaria as Faran, and Malia Pyles as Mouse, with Mallory Bechtel, Sharon Leal, Elena Goode, Eric Johnson, Alex Aiono, and Lea Salonga in the supporting cast.3 The series is rated TV-MA; Common Sense Media notes it is considerably less glamorous and considerably more violent than its franchise counterparts, with bullying, stalking, murder, suicide, and sex crimes among its themes.16

Season 2: Summer School (2024). The second season, subtitled Pretty Little Liars: Summer School, debuted with two episodes on May 9, 2024, followed by one episode weekly through June 20 on Max.4 Its logline follows the Liars into summer school and summer jobs while a new villain, who may or may not be connected to A, comes to town.4 The season frames all five girls as the "Final Girls" of its own horror movie, bringing more slasher homages and horror references.17

Cancellation. On September 22, 2024, Max announced it would not move forward with a third season, crediting the co-creators with "a fun, horror-filled point of view that paid tribute to its original Rosewood roots."3

Relationship to the franchise

The series takes place in the existing Pretty Little Liars universe, following a new generation of Liars in a new town.2 • 9 It is the third spin-off attempt after Ravenswood (2013), which lasted one season, and Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists (2019), which was not renewed for a second.10

A deliberate break. The creative team wanted to establish their own town and girls "without being in the shadow of that original, iconic franchise," while still planting Easter eggs for longtime fans.11 The Los Angeles Times described the show as leaning into the slasher genre, standing apart from the original series and its two previous spin-offs.12 Aguirre-Sacasa and Bring had worked together on Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, which they described as satanic, supernatural horror; Original Sin let them do a real slasher-horror story for the first time.13

The show honors the franchise through its title sequence, which takes the original series' iconic theme song and makes it "darker and a little grittier and a little scarier."13 Horror references run through the naming as well: Tabby's mother Sidney is named for the Scream heroine, movie theater boss Wes nods to director Wes Craven, the pilot was heavily inspired by John Carpenter's Halloween, and Imogen is named for actor Imogen Poots.7

Production

The project originated when Susan Rovner, then running development at Warner Bros., called Alloy Entertainment's Leslie Morgenstein and Gina Girolamo to say that Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Lindsay Calhoon Bring had a vision for a new version of Pretty Little Liars.14 The series is produced by Aguirre-Sacasa's Muckle Man Productions and Alloy Entertainment in association with Warner Bros. Television; Alloy's Morgenstein and Girolamo executive produce alongside Michael Grassi, and, for the second season, Marlene King, who developed the original series.4 Production design, including the Millwood High school sets, was led by Neil Patel.15

Aguirre-Sacasa has said he realized he should build the show with a partner who could more authentically speak to the experiences of young teen girls, which he called the heart of the franchise; that partner was Calhoon Bring.8 Director Lisa Soper said the show's aesthetic choices were intended to empower its female characters.12

Reception

Season 1 holds a 90% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes from 20 critics, with a critics consensus praising its "tantalizing new mystery" and "refreshingly grounded crop of pretty little liars," and a 70% audience Popcornmeter score from more than 250 ratings.6 The Sydney Morning Herald's Brad Newsome called the show highly self-aware, with a heightened design contrasting earthy cynicism and visceral darkness, and singled out Bailee Madison as outstanding as the pregnant lead.6

The marketing campaign targeted skeptical original-series fans, since the new series featured none of the original cast and premiered on a new platform. A Twitter premiere watch party drew 155,000 live viewers, the show's TikTok launch brought 102,300 followers and 1.2 million engagements, and the franchise's owned social handles grew nearly 43% to 28.4 million followers; the campaign earned Bronze and Audience honors in Multi-Platform Presence at the 15th Annual Shorty Awards.18

References

  1. What is "Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin" about? HBO Max LA Press Room
  2. Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin, Hulu series page
  3. Pretty Little Liars: Summer School: Cancelled by Max, TV Series Finale
  4. Max Original Drama Series Pretty Little Liars: Summer School Debuts May 9, Bell Media/Crave press release
  5. Where to Watch Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin, Helposter
  6. Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin, Rotten Tomatoes
  7. Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin Cast, Creators Explain How HBO Max Spinoff Uses Horror, Teen Vogue
  8. Inside the Pretty Little Liars Original Sin Juiciest Secrets So Far, The Daily Beast
  9. 'Pretty Little Liars' Reboot From 'Riverdale' Creator Ordered at HBO Max, TheWrap
  10. Aterriza el reboot de Pretty Little Liars, Soy502
  11. Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin Team Explains HBO Max Series' Connection To PLL, TVLine
  12. How Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin made A even scarier, Los Angeles Times
  13. PLL: Original Sin Bosses Answer All Your Burning 'A' Questions, ExtraTV
  14. Alloy's Leslie Morgenstein & Gina Girolamo, World Screen
  15. Production design of Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin, interview with Neil Patel, Pushing Pixels
  16. Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin Parents' Guide, Common Sense Media
  17. Pretty Little Liars: Summer School Season 2, Plex
  18. Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin, 15th Annual Shorty Awards

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026

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Pretty Little Liars (2022 TV series)

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